Tri-City sued Hammes Healthcare on Sept. 1, alleging that the development company failed to meet the terms of its contract with the hospital because it did not secure enough investment from local physicians, according to the report.
On Oct. 19, Hammes filed a countersuit which alleged that Tri-City owed the company $1 million in damages for costs incurred in preparing to build the surgery center on hospital property.
According to the report, both lawsuits stem from a 2005 decision in which the Tri-City board voted to build the surgery center as long as at least 20 local physicians invested in the center. Tri-City invested $1 million to secure a 51 percent ownership stake in the center. However, in spring 2009, the hospital announced that it would no longer pursue the center due to lack of interest.
In its lawsuit, Tri-City says that Hammes was supposed to find tenants for the surgery center by Dec. 31, 2007, and to gain government permits and approval by Jan. 30, 2009, to build the center.
Hammes alleges in its lawsuit that Tri-City stalled negotiations with the company just long enough to take the company past the date it could have cancelled its contract with the hospital and is asking Tri-City to pay for lost profits and development costs as a result of the contract, according to the report.
Read the Times’ report about the Tri-City Medical Center surgery center lawsuits.
